Dominion
Founded: Approximately 10 millenia ago. Primary/Founding Species: Dro'all Secondary species: Human ( 8%), Kavarian (<3%) , Rovinar (<1%), Hune (<1%), Shallan (?%) One of the main Factions, the Dominion is a semi-feudal society comprised of hundreds of nation states known as Houses. Anyone from any species can become the leader of a House in the Dominion provided they are of Noble blood and can prove themselves worth to rule. Dro'all and Humans are the only two species of note in Dominion space with Humans making up a small minority controlling five Houses. See: Nobility in the Dominion Each of the Houses fight for control of worlds, resources and political influence in the hope of becoming one of the Seven Great Houses, subservient only to the Ruling House. All of this is referred to as The Great Game by the nobility. Minor Houses are routinely being lost through conquest or mergers with other Houses, while new ones are created by the Ruling House and other Major Houses to keep the total number effectively unchanged. All of this internal conflict makes the Dominion the least stable Faction, but one that can rapidly bring overwhelming numbers to bear against outsiders. Something the other Factions know all too well from attempts at meddling with the affairs of the Houses. Before the Faction Wars the Dominion was the single most powerful Faction both politically and militarily. The loss of the current Kavarian territories in the wars and centuries of infighting between the Houses have reduced it considerably. The Ruling House The Dominion is currently in its Twelfth Dynasty which began following the Dominion Civil War in the second decade of the Second Neeran War. Having risen to the position of Ruling House due to the mismanagement of the Dominion at the hands of House Nirium in the later centuires of their reign. Mismanagement that resulted in them losing the support of the majority of Dominion Houses and the eventual vote for who would be the Dominion Ruling House post civil war. They now reign as Emperor over a broken Dominion. Bled by war against themselves and the menace of Rogue AI's they now prepare for the Dominions eventual return to the larger Neeran conflict. 12th Dynasty - House Ber'helum 11th Dynasty - House Nirium 10th Dynasty - House Kharbos 9th Dynasty - House Limu'thi ''"Reign of the Immortal" 8th Dynasty - ''House Ber'helum 7th Dynasty - 6th Dynasty - 5th Dynasty - House Bonrah 4th Dynasty - House Che'len 3rd Dynasty - 2nd Dynasty - 1st Dynasty - House Hy'drang The Seven (Early 12th Dynasty) * ''House Helios'' * ''House Nirium'' - (11th Dynasty) * ''House Kharbos'' - (10th Dynasty) * ''House Xygen'' * ''House Nasidum'' * ''House Ceres'' * ''House Feron'' (Late 11th Dynasty) House Helios, House Ber'helum, House Bonrah, House Che'len, House Kharbos, House Xygen, House Nasidum Houses of Note See main article: Houses of the Dominion * House Aeil'sen - Supplied an allied corvette wing during 2nd phase of Operation Typhoon. Took heavy casualties from a merc force's 56 SP torp volley. * House Aeon - Won the claim to "Kaz's World" in the South Reach Campaign after Knight Captain Idoh defeated Knight Lt Sonia Reynard of Jerik-Dremine in a mock duel. * House Ancirci * House Astalen - note: Joint R&D - Power Cell Armor * House Aurlum - Knight Captain Sonia Reynard and portions of 3rd Attack Wing assisted a corvette wing from this House in the Pandora Cluster, after a Neeran raiding force managed to pin them down. * House Binil - (J-D Allied) A Minor House. One of the Houses that supported the Smuggler's Run Campaign, gaining control of Kaartinen and another habitable world. * House Bonrah ''- Ruling House of the Fifth Dynasty. It is one of the oldest continuing Houses in the Dominion behind Che'len, Helios and Ber'helum. With an unstable history of leadership changing between more cautious diplomats and those that would use brute strength to gain control of wealth and territory. They consistently fought against the Ruling House in the last decades of the Tenth Dynasty and were among those who sent ships to fight as mercenaries in the Second Faction War. Unlike other Houses which gained theirs through capture, Bonrah purchased Super Heavy Cruisers from the Union in exchange for Corvette and Carrier support. They have since lost all but one of these ships in inter-House fighting. * ''House Cay'ifnor - Assisted in securing the Super Heavy Cruiser crippled during the 2nd phase of Operation Typhoon by 3rd Attack Wing and an allied Kavarian Wing. * House Ceres' '- ('Minor' House, Majority Human) * House Dunab'im * House Erid ''- (Rival House) * ''House Kadnil - (J-D Allied) Capable of processing Rare Element into FTL systems, this House gained the Lion's share of Rare Element worlds retaken in the Smuggler's Run for their support. Supplies J-D with FTL systems in exchange. * House Kuadneos - (J-D Allied) Possessing limited Rare Element processing capability, this House gained several regions of territory for their support of the Smuggler's Run Campaign, including two colonies and a Rare Element world that had been strip mined. * House Limu'thi - (9th Dynasty) (House of the Immortal. Destroyed and rebuilt) * House Lat'tham * House Pantaq ''- ('J-D Allied') Supported the Smuggler's Run Campaign and received holdings at each end of the region. Otherwise non-descript. * ''House Pentaris * House Phobos ''- One of the other primarily human Houses of the Dominion. Roughly equal in strength to Jerik-Dremine. (at time of Sonia's first christmas home) * ''House Posat - (Defunct post 4031) note: Joint R&D - Anti-Torpedo Armor * House Polum - A minor but more balanced House, their fleet composition is much the same as your House was before the war, though they lack your ship numbers. * House Quaoar - (Minor House, Majority Human) * House Sothos ''- 16th House of the Dominion. As one of the true middle Houses, is a contender to become one of The Seven. First encountered during the Neeran retreat in the Pandora Cluster, when Knight Captains Daska Rna and Alex Palagios led their attack wings in support of Baron Esh'dan's attack on the Neeran rear guard. * ''House Sirco - led a trio of Houses during the South Reach Campaign, using their combined Medium cruisers and light cruisers to steamroll pockets of lighter opposition. * House Sulos * House Talda - A minor House, known to have provided mercenary forces to the Kavarians in the last Faction War. * House Talum - A "Corvette House" They have the capacity to build cruisers and the Knights to man them but mostly hold them in reserve to defend high value positions. Their standard corvette formations are seen as expendable. * House Trin'qua - (J-D Allied) Supported Smuggler's Run Capaign and gained several regions of space. * House Veritas - Formerly the Free Planets League, now a House of the Dominion embargoed by a vast list of Houses for war crimes committed during the FPL's period of rebellion and alliance with the Pirate Warlords. * House Xygen - More or less allied with House Ber'helum, they are the second most powerful House looking to withdraw from direct military support of the Faction Alliance following the rout of Neeran forces attacking the Pandora Cluster. Destroyed Houses * ''House Elin'chel ''- One of the Houses that went Mercenary in the late Faction Wars and was later annihilated. The Ruling House later formed a replacement, but there is no line of succession between the two, they occupy totally different parts of space. History of the Dominion For the main article see: History of the Dominion The Royal Houses, and by extension Dominion, can trace their existence back thousand years to the days when the Dro'all people were at a technological level equivalent to a stone age or early bronze age society. There are some discrepancies in the record keeping of their earliest histories that make precise dating difficult before industrialization began. The situation on the Dro'all homeworld was similar in many respects to the modern Dominion, Powerful nations and clans holding key areas and trading in resources and influence to gain power over wider areas. After achieving space flight many entire Houses were sent off world to other systems via generation ships, supposedly as a means of population control. Other systems were eventually settled and an interstellar civilization emerged, based off of slower than light craft like generations ships and smaller ramscoop craft. It is suspected as many as half of the ships that initially left the homeworld failed to reach their destinations and those that survived held little allegiance to the Ruling House. Over a period of approximately three thousand years the Houses of the "slowboat" empire each attempted to expand. There are only a few known instances of attempted invasion of other worlds or systems during the period. The same can not be said for attempts to capture ships visiting systems to trade high value goods. All of this ended with the development of faster than light craft. Two Houses conquered first the homeworld then the other Dro'all inhabited worlds over the course of a few decades and established the Dominion as a true space faring empire. This new empire rapidly expanded across much of their home galaxy, but the rapid expansion necessitated ending the Ruling House's monopoly on FTL technology. Through expansion and colonisation other Houses gained in strength and the Dominion's ancestral competition resumed. Expansion was briefly interrupted by discovery of an alien starship and technology. Wide scale conflict resulting from Houses attempting to capitalise on the new technology devastated parts of the Dominion. While expansion later resumed the Dominion had entered a long period of cultural decline. Wars against AI and the development of cloning technology occurred in this era, leaving a lasting impression. Many key leaders in the Dominion began cloning themselves as a means of achieving immortality. The Dominion eventually expanded to other galaxies, encountering the Kavarian Imperium and the early Terran Alliance. Houses wishing to destroy the clone leadership engineered a war against the Terrans to weaken the Ruling House before overthrowing them. This nearly backfired with the Emperor offering to integrate the Terran worlds into the Dominion as House Terra. Fortunately the Terrans hubris prevented the offer being taken seriously. With the end of the dynasty the Dominion underwent a reformation, borrowing elements from ancient Human systems of nobility. Clones would also never again be allowed to legally hold positions of power. Following the reformation the new Ruling House led the Dominion in the successful conquest of the Kavarian Imperium. This marked the beginning of a nearly thousand year period in which the Dominion was the single most powerful faction in known space. Only the alliance between the Terrans and Rovinar kept them at bay. To main article: History of the Dominion Category:Factions Category:Houses Category:Dominion of Royal Houses